Marxism in Latin America

Throughout the twentieth century, Latin Americans wrestled with the enduring problems of foreign domination, social inequality, and poverty. Marxist popular movements, political parties, and intellectuals were often key players in these struggles, forming an important basis for trenchant social critique, mass social movement, and revolutionary organization. Even in countries where Marxist ideas, parties, and organizations never developed a mass following or consistent electoral presence, they exercised a broad influence on social movements, politics, and culture. Latin American Marxism cannot be abstracted from this broader social, political, and intellectual ferment. Despite the insistence of many Marxist political parties and regimes on ideological unity, the history of Latin American Marxism has been characterized by creative engagement, partisan debate, and heterodoxy.